UNIONDALE, N. Ryan Grant Jersey .Y. -- San Jose has dominated the Eastern Conference all season, and Sharks captain Joe Thornton kept that trend going against an old friend. Matt Nieto and Jason Demers scored first-period goals, and the Sharks made the most of 26 shots against the Islanders and goalie Evgeni Nabokov in a 4-3 victory on Friday night. Thornton and Marty Havlat added goals in the second period for the Sharks, who won their fifth straight and improved to 20-6-3 against the East. Antti Niemi made 35 saves for San Jose, which faced former Sharks goalie Nabokov in his first start against them. "It was definitely weird seeing him on the other side," Thornton said of his long-time Sharks teammate. "But we had to focus because they play hard every night. Were glad to get the two points." The Sharks (44-17-7) are battling Anaheim for the top spot in the Pacific Division. San Jose will play at the New York Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. "Getting the lead was important and we had contributions from all four lines," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "Every game is big this time of year. Now were just looking forward to our next game, which will be in a building thats always tough." Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Frans Nielsen scored for the Islanders, who lost for the fifth time in six home games. New York, which began a four-game homestand following a 2-1-1 trip, is an NHL-worst 9-17-8 at home. Islanders coach Jack Capuano chose to look on the positive side, despite another defeat at Nassau Coliseum. "Thats a top-notch team we played, so any little breakdown and its in the back of your net," he said. "I thought we had a great effort. We worked hard as a group and we were getting chances." Nieto made it 1-0 with 6:33 left in the first off a flurry in front of Nabokov. The 38-year-old Nabokov played 563 games for the Sharks during his decade with the franchise. He left San Jose to play in Russia after the 2009-10 season, then joined the Islanders during the 2011-12 campaign. Demers made it 2-0 at 14:46 with a drive from the right wing for his fourth of the season. Lee cut the Islanders deficit in half 32 seconds into the second period, the rookies sixth goal in eight games this season. Thornton restored San Joses two-goal lead with his 10th of the season at 9:32, firing a rebound past Nabokov after Brent Burns initial shot came directly to him in the left circle. The Islanders stayed with the fleet and powerful Sharks, and Nelson tipped in Matt Donovans shot from the point to make it 3-2 at 17:02 of the second for his 12th goal. But Havlats goal put San Jose up 4-2 before Nielsen completed the scoring with his 21st goal of the season at 19:38 of the third with Nabokov pulled for an extra skater. The Islanders played without speedy forward Michael Grabner (concussion) in their first home game since trading forward Thomas Vanek and defenceman Andrew MacDonald last week. Johan Sundstrom made his debut for the Islanders, the ninth rookie to play for them this season. The Sharks are 8-1-1 in their streak of 12 games against Eastern opponents. This was their first visit to Long Island since Oct. 29, 2011. The Islanders (25-34-9) tied the franchise record for goals in a period on Monday, scoring seven in the third in a 7-4 comeback win over the Canucks in Vancouver. But they mustered little against Niemi (33-13-6), who replaced Nabokov as the Sharks starter after helping Chicago win the Stanley Cup in 2010. NOTES: The Sharks lead the NHL with 69 first-period goals and have won 40 or more games 11 times since 2000-01. ... The Sharks were without defenceman Brad Stuart (upper body) and forwards Tomas Hertl (knee) and Raffi Torres (knee). ... Defenceman Thomas Hickey is the only Islanders player to be in all 68 games this season. Trent Williams Jersey .com) - Demario Richard posted four touchdowns and Kweishi Brown came up with a key late interception as No. Fabian Moreau Jersey . Coaches are now allowed to challenge both called and potential defensive pass interference fouls under certain conditions. http://www.theredskinsprostore.com/Authentic_DeAngelo-Hall_Redskins_Jersey/ . Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. Serge Ibaka returned to the Thunder lineup from a calf injury that was supposed to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason and the results were sparkling.ST. LOUIS - Jake Allen was a little more than 3 minutes from his third straight shutout Thursday night.In the end, the St. Louis Blues goalie had to hold on just to win. The New Jersey Devils scored three times in a span of 2:34 late in the third period but came up just short as the Blues extended their winning streak to seven games with a 4-3 victory.Allen would have enjoyed another shutout, but said the main thing was getting two more points.I think shutouts are bonuses, he said. If I got that third one, great, Ill enjoy it for a little bit. But Im just focusing on wins right now. Definitely a couple of things to learn from the last few minutes, but all in all, we got the win and well move on to Saturday.Allen made 24 saves and ran his shutout streak to 184 minutes before giving up his first goal in two weeks.Vladimir Tarasenko stretched his goal-scoring streak to four games — he and Blues linemate Jaden Schwartz each had a goal and an assist. Tarasenko has scored five goals during his four-game streak and eight in his last six games overall.Its not about the scoring; its about the wins, Tarasenko said. We have seven in a row. So lets make it eight and prepare for the next game.Alexander Steen and David Backes also scored for St. Louis. Jori Lehtera had two assists.Allen, who stopped 26 shots in blanking the Devils 1-0 Tuesday night in New Jersey, had his shutout streak snapped at 184:01 when Michael Ryder beat him with a wrist shot at 16:35 of the third period.Prior to that, Allen had not allowed a goal since Vancouvers Linden Vey scored on him at 11:57 of the third period on Oct. 23.I think he gets a lot of help from their team, New Jerseys Patrik Elias said. Their defencemen are some of the best in the league, if not the best, and they move the puck and dont give the other team great chances. Jamison Crowder Jersey. . When they do give up some, obviously hes played well for them. Marek Zidlicky then scored at 18:09 for New Jersey and Ryder added his second of the game with 50.5 seconds left to make it 4-3.Its tough, Allen said. I just wanted to bear down and give them nothing. You had 1 minute left to get two points and lay it on the line. We got it. We squeezed it out.Blues coach Ken Hitchcock felt the team let Allen down the last few minutes.I feel bad for him, Hitchcock said. Its a win but it feels a little bit like a loss because we let the guy down because he was so good. Jersey came in with real purpose; they really pushed us hard.Cory Schneider made 22 saves for the Devils. He was pulled in favour of Keith Kinkaid after Steen scored on a power play at 7:10 of the third period.Tarasenko got the Blues on the board just before the end of the first period with another highlight-reel goal. He got the puck from Schwartz in the slot, manoeuvred to his left through three Devils, then pulled Schneider out of position before lifting the puck over him at 19:55.Hes probably the hottest player in the league right now, Schneider said. You cant deny his skill. I tried to out-wait him but hes real patient and got it up at the end which I wasnt sure he was going to be able to do. It was another nice goal from him.Schwartz made it 2-0 at 11:05 of the second when he took a long clearing pass from Barret Jackman and skated in alone on Schneider. Schwartz put a wrist shot over Schneiders right shoulder for his sixth goal.NOTES: New Jersey began a stretch of playing 15 out of 20 on the road. ... Schneider has started all 13 games for the Devils. Cheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '